Ella

(Me last Sunday)

Probably most everyone who reads this blog reads Clark's blog. Or at least read the live baby updating he did over there. Or follows me on facebook. But, in case you haven't heard, WE HAD A BABY!

Would you like to hear the details? Once again, if you read Clark's blog, you probably got all those details already, but in case you didn't. . .

On Monday morning we got a phone call at 5:15 am asking us if we'd like to come in and have a baby. I was very glad to receive said phone call, because I had basically spent the night worrying that they'd be too full and not call. Also, I was worried that I'd somehow go backwards and not be ready for an induction. Shannon at 2am is not exactly the most logical creature. Anyway, we got to the hospital at 6:20, where they proceeded to fill out paperwork, hook up monitors (baby monitor and heart monitor [with telemetry, meaning a cardiac nurse at the other hospital was constantly monitoring my heart]), and give me an IV. This took until just after 8. And then the Pitocin began to flow.

It took until about 10:30 before I decided that it was time for the epidural. The doctor told me I should do an early epidural anyway, and I'm a wimp. So that worked out nicely. So about an hour later (after they got some fluid in me, and the anesthesiologist did his magic), my left side was pretty numb, and my right side was numb enough to get rid of the contractions (mostly). We did some side switching throughout the day to even that out a bit, but I was kind of glad that I had some feeling in my legs. I could move them at least a little bit the entire time.

After the epidural, we just waited. And waited. And waited. I got some rest (though not sleep, just rest), and thought about all the foods that I wished I was eating, the possible names for the baby, and what on earth I was going to do with 2 kids. Things progressed bit by bit. At 3:30, the nurse announced that I was 8cm dilated. She also thought she felt a hand by the head. And then there was a gush of blood. Which maybe was normal and maybe wasn't (I was kind of vague on the details there), so she got Dr Fagnant to come check things out, just in case. He confirmed that I was at an 8, a 9 with a contraction, and the baby was facing sideways. He was a little concerned that my cervix had torn and that was what the blood was from, so he said he'd check that out after the birth. And he didn't feel a hand. So he left. The nurses rolled me to the side in an effort to get the baby turned the right way (face down). And then the nurses left. It was about 4.

About 1 minute later, it felt like the epidural had just stopped working. HUGE contraction. LOTS of pain. And the sudden, INTENSE urge to push. I never felt anything like that with Julia. I started crying and telling Clark to hit the epidural button. I think he did hit it, but they say it takes 10-15 minutes for that to kick in. And that urge to push was overwhelming. So then I continued to cry and told him to hit the nurse button. She came right in, checked me, and said, "We're there! It's time to push." Hallelujah, this had to be over soon. So she started getting everything ready: called the cardiac nurse, told her my heart rate would likely increase, because I was delivering; got the stuff for baby ready; got my feet and legs into position. And then she had to make a call and ask where everyone was, because we were ready to deliver and she was the only one there. So everyone finally got there, and the pushing began.

With Julia, I pushed for 2.5 hours, and they used a vacuum to get her out. So I was a little concerned that this could take a while. Dr F decided to let me push a little bit, see how I did on my own. 3 pushes per contraction. I'd say I did pretty well, because 3 contractions later, she was here! 4:28pm. 7lbs, 6oz. 19.5 inches.

We named her Ella Joy.

(These pictures are the same ones that Clark posted. Because they are the best ones.)

Julia is generally delighted to be a big sister. She is a great helper. And she still calls her Bing most of the time. I've decided not to make an issue out of it.